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Friday, August 1, 2008

Best Reads Ever (to be updated regularly)

An online bookgroup invited its members to submit their 100 favorite reads list. Here's mine (100 plus a few extra):

Across Five Aprils by Irene HuntThe Adventures of Huckleberry Finn by Mark TwainThe Adventures of Tom Sawyer by Mark TwainAll the King’s Men by Robert Penn WarrenAmazing Grace by Kathleen NorrisAngela’s Ashes by Frank McCourtAnimal Farm by George OrwellAnimal, Vegetable, Mineral by Barbara KingsolverAnne of Green Gables by L. M. MontgomeryBecause of Winn-Dixie by Kate DiCamilloThe Bell Jar by Sylvia PlathBird by Bird by Anne LamottBless Me, Ultima by Rudolfo AnayaBlue Latitudes by Tony HorwitzBook of Luminous Things edited by Czeslaw MiloszBowling Alone by Robert D. PutnamBoy’s Life by Robert McCammonBreathing Lessons by Anne TylerBrideshead Revisited by Evelyn WaughBridge to Terabithia by Katherine PattersonBy the Great Horn Spoon by Sid FleischmanBud, Not Buddy by Christopher Paul CurtisCandide by VoltaireThe Center of Everything by Laura MoriartyCivility by Stephen L. CarterThe Color Purple by Alice WalkerThe Corrections by Jonathan FranzenCrispin: Cross of Lead by AviCrossing to Safety by Wallace StegnerDark Star Safari by Paul TherouxA Death in the Family by James AgeeThe Death of a Salesman by Arthur MillerThe Death of Vishnu by Manil SuriDon Quixote by Miguel CervantesDon’t Let the Pigeon Drive the Bus by Mo WillemsEats, Shoots, and Leaves by Lynn TrussEncyclopedia of an Ordinary Life by Amy Krouse RosenthalEnder’s Game by Orson Scott CardEveryday Sacred by Sue BenderEx Libris by Anne FadimanFahrenheit 451 by Ray BradburyA Fine Balance by Rohinton MistryFiregirl by Tony AbbottFounding Brothers by Joseph J. EllisFor Whom the Bell Tolls by Ernest HemingwayGilead by Marilynne RobinsonThe Giver by Lois LowryThe Glass Bead Game by Herman HesseThe Gold Bug Variations by Richard PowersThe Good Earth by Pearl S. BuckGone With the Wind by Margaret MitchellGood Omens by Neil Gaiman and Terry PratchettGood Poems edited by Garrison KeillorThe Grapes of Wrath by John SteinbeckThe Grass Harp by Truman CapoteThe Great Gatsby by F. Scott FitzgeraldHalf Magic by Edgar EagerHalf of a Yellow Sun by Chimamanda Ngozi AdichieHappenstance by Carol ShieldsHarry Potter and the Sorcerer’s Apprentice by J. K. RowlingHatchet by Gary PaulsenThe Heart is a Lonely Hunter by Carson McCullersHeaven is a Playground by Rick TelanderHenry Huggins by Beverly ClearyA Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy by Douglas AdamsThe Hobbit by J. R. R. TolkienHoles by Louis SacharHomer Price by Robert McCloskeyThe Hours by Michael CunninghamA House for Mr. Biswas by V. S. NaipaulThe House on Mango Street by Sandra CisnerosHow the Grinch Stole Christmas by Dr. SeussHow to Steal a Dog by Barbara O’ConnorThe Hundred Dresses by Eleanor EstesI Ain’t Gonna Paint No More by Karen BeaumontI, Claudius by Robert GravesThe Importance of Being Earnest by Oscar WildeInto that Good Night by Ron RozelleIn Cold Blood by Truman CapoteIndependent People by Halldor LaxnessIn the Heart of the Sea by Nathaniel PhilbrickThe Inheritance of Loss by Kiran DesaiIt Can’t Happen Here by Sinclair LewisJohn Adams by David McCulloughJumanji by Chris Van AllsburgA Kiss for Little Bear by Else Holmelund MinarikThe Last Shot by Darcy FreyThe Lightning Thief by Rick RiordanLike Water for Chocolate by Laura EsquivelThe Little House by Virginia Lee BurtonThe Little Prince by Antoine de Saint-ExuperyLives of the Writers by Kathleen KrullA Long Way from Chicago by Richard PecLord of the Flies by William GoldingLord of the Rings by J. R. R. TolkienLonesome Dove by Larry McMurtryLove is a Wild Assault by Elithe Hamilton KirklandMadame Bovary by Gustave FlaubertMagister Ludi by Hermann HesseMain Street by Sinclair LewisMake a World by Ed EmberlyMaterial World by Peter MenzelMaus by Art SpiegelmanMemoirs of a Geisha by Arthur GoldenThe Metamorphosis by Franz KafkaThe Middleman and Other Stories by Bharati MukherjeeMiss Pettigrew Lives for a Day by Winifred WatsonMr. Putter and Tabby Walk the Dog by Cynthia RylantMrs. Bridge by Evan S. ConnellMrs. Dalloway by Virginia WolfeMrs. Palfrey at the Claremont by Elizabeth TaylorMy Mistress's Sparrow is Dead edited by Jeffrey EugenidesMy Name is Asher Lev by Chaim PotokNever Cry Wolf by Farley MowatNo. 1 Ladies’ Detective Agency by Alexander McCall SmithThe Odyssey by HomerOryx and Crake by Margaret AtwoodOne Man’s Meat by E. B. WhiteOut of the Dust by Karen HesseParis to the Moon by Adam GopnikThe Phantom Tollbooth by Norman JusterPlan B by Anne LamottA Poem a Day edited by Karen McKoskerPossession by A. S. ByattThe Prime of Miss Jean Brodie by Muriel SparkPrinciples of Uncertainty by Maira KalmanThe Remains of the Day by Kazuo IshiguroRevolutionary Road by Richard YatesRobinson Crusoe by Daniel DefoeRoll of Thunder, Hear My Cry by Mildred D. TaylorRotten Island by William SteigSailing Alone Around the World by Billy CollinsSaint George and the Dragon by Margaret HodgeSeabiscuit by Laura HillenbrandThe Secret History by Donna TarteA Separate Peace by John KnowlesThe Sheltering Sky by Paul BowlesShiloh by Phyllis Reynolds NaylorA Short History of Nearly Everything by Bill BrysonSilk by Allesandro BariccoSmall Island by Andrea LevyThe Spirit Catches You and You Fall Down by Anne FadimanA Single Shard by Linda Sue ParkSounder by William ArmstrongStargirl by Jerry SpinelliStep Ball Change by Jeanne RayStrong Measures edited by Philip Dacey and David JaussSuite Francaise by Irene NemirovskySylvester and the Magic Pebble by William SteigTadpole's Promise by Jeanne WillisTale of Despereaux by Kate DiCamilloThe Things They Carried by Tim O'BrienTo Kill a Mockingbird by Harper LeeTraveling Mercies by Anne LamottA Tree Grows in Brooklyn by Betty SmithWaiting by Ha JinA Walk in the Woods by Bill BrysonWatership Down by Richard AdamsWe Need to Talk About Kevin by Lionel ShriverWe Wish to Inform You That Tomorrow We Will Be Killed With Our Families by Philip GourevtichThe Wind-Up Bird Chronicle by Haruki MurakamiWhere I’m Calling From by Raymond CarverWhere the Red Fern Grows by Wilson RawlsWhere the Sidewalk Ends by Shel SilversteinWhere the Wild Things Are by Maurice SendakWinnie-the-Pooh by A. A. MilneThe Witch of Blackbird Pond by Elizabeth George SpeareWord Freak by Stefan FatsisWorking by Studs TerkelThe World is Not Enough by Zoe OldenbourgA Wrinkle in Time by Madeleine L’EngleThe Year of Magical Thinking by Joan DidionZen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance by Robert PirsigZen and Zen Classics by R. H. Blyth

5 comments:

I recently read your post about Irène Némirovsky and wanted to let you know about an exciting new exhibition about her life, work, and legacy that will open on September 24, 2008 at the Museum of Jewish Heritage —A Living Memorial to the Holocaust in New York City. Woman of Letters: Irène Némirovsky and Suite Française, which will run through the middle of March, will include powerful rare artifacts — the actual handwritten manuscript for Suite Française, the valise in which it was found, and many personal papers and family photos. The majority of these documents and artifacts have never been outside of France. For fans of her work, this exhibition is an opportunity to really “get to know” Irene. And for those who can’t visit, there will be a special website that will live on the Museum’s site www.mjhnyc.org. The Museum will host several public programs over the course of the exhibition’s run that will put Némirovsky’s work and life into historical and literary context. Book clubs and groups are invited to the Museum for tours and discussions in the exhibition’s adjacent Salon (by appointment). It is the Museum’s hope that the exhibit will engage visitors and promote dialogue about this extraordinary writer and the complex time in which she lived and died. To book a group tour, please contact Tracy Bradshaw at 646.437.4304 or tbradshaw@mjhnyc.org. Please visit our website at www.mjhnyc.org for up-to-date information about upcoming public programs or to join our e-bulletin list. Thanks for sharing this info with your readers. Let me know if you need any more. -Elizabeth Sinnreich (executiveintern@mjhnyc.org)

You have some nice choices there. Some I've read, some I'm familiar with but haven't read, and some I've never heard of. I'm reading Independent People by Halldor Laxness now. It's slow going, but it's interesting.